Against the Sun (2014)

A WWII pilot, bombardier, and radioman find themselves adrift on a lifeboat without food or water after being forced to ditch their plane during a scouting mission.

Director:

Brian Falk

Writers:

Brian Falk, Mark David Keegan

Stars:

Garret Dillahunt, Tom Felton, Jake Abel

Cast

Cast overview:
Garret Dillahunt	...	Harold Dixon
Tom Felton	...	Tony Pastula
Jake Abel	...	Gene Aldrich
Nadia Parra	...	Frances Pastula
Quinton Flynn	...	Newsreel Narrator

Storyline

In one of the most harrowing true stories of World War II, three US Navy airmen crash land their torpedo bomber in the South Pacific and find themselves on a tiny life raft, surrounded by open ocean. No food. No water. No hope of rescue. Against incredible odds, these three virtual strangers must survive storms, sharks, starvation - and each other - as they try to sail more than a thousand miles to safety.

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Plot Keywords:

disaster at sea | survival | disaster film | survival film | south pacific | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic material involving peril and hardships, and for language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 January 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ghosts of the Pacific

Filming Locations:

Mexico

Company Credits

Production Co:

The American Film Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The three main actors were put on a strict diet of 500 calories a day while filming to accurately portray how emaciated the downed pilots became during their ordeal.

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Goofs

Although the crew spent 34 days in the raft, their hair length at the end of the film is the same as at the beginning.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gene Aldrich: [over the radio] Chief, this is Aldrich. I'm losing her on the ARA.
Tony Pastula: [to himself] Come on, where are you goin'?
Gene Aldrich: [into radio] Chief, I've lost the beacon. Over. Are we close Chief?
Tony Pastula: I'll give him a tap, maybe his com is down.

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Soundtracks

Gallant Seventh
Written by John Philip Sousa

User Reviews

Battling adversity in 8 x 4 ft

The Pacific Ocean is 63 million square miles in size. Larger than every single square inch of dry land on the entire planet.

In January 1942, just over a month after the devastating Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour and the United States entry into WWII, the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise was on patrol west of Hawaii.

Enterprise was one of only four remaining US carriers in the Pacific. Constant reconnaissance was crucial to detect Japanese ships and aircraft. Lingering in one place was a recipe for potential disaster - but pinpointing a moving ship roughly 800ft long and 100 ft wide, a minuscule speck in such a vast ocean, was a much greater challenge for pilots. Unfortunately that made life difficult for friendly as well as hostile fliers.

On the 16 January 1942 a Douglas Devastator torpedo bomber ran out of fuel without sighting the Enterprise. Pilot Harold Dixon, radioman Gene Aldrich and bombardier Tony Pastula managed to survive ditching in the sea.

This film tells the story of what happened next. Dixon, Aldrich and Pastula had few resources and faced great dangers - trying to survive on a raft measuring only 8ft x 4ft.

Such a small intimate setting is a challenge to put on screen, and this film succeeds in being engaging and enjoyable because of the well written script brought to life by a talented cast.

Tom Felton as Tony Pastula may be familiar as Draco Malfoy from the 'Harry Potter' films, Jake Abel from 'Percy Jackson: The Lightening Thief' and TV's 'Supernatural' and Garret Dillahunt from 'Justified', 'CSI' and 'Deadwood' on the small screen as well films such as '12 Years A Slave' and 'No Country For Old Men'.

All three are excellent in their respective roles, and their collective experience and ability hold and entertain the viewer.

The film remains as faithful as possible to the actual story and the real history - and amid all the seemingly endless sea and limitless sky, an imposing vastness visually conveyed powerfully from the first opening scenes, is never in any danger of coming adrift.

Very enjoyable and well worth watching.